The Challenge and Promise of Engagement in E-Learning--Part I

The term "engagement" has become somewhat of a buzz word in the halls of the corporate and education world alike. However, underlying this term is a deep seated feeling of uneasiness in these same halls as a  new realization is dawning on them. This very troubling realization is that without employees or learners who are engaged in pursuing skill sets necessary to deep seated learning and ultimately innovation within their organizations, they will forfeit their place in the global economy, develop a disconnect with new clients and past ones and become an anachronistic oddity in a digital age.

Credit: www.onlinehumanresources.net

Human Nature and Engagement 

We know that in a fast paced world, becoming engaged in something is time consuming and is resource depleting. There are many distractions in the world both in the real world and online that promise escapes in the form of entertainment and leisure which in fact act as pressure release valves for humans. It is a natural drive that humans have that acts as a defense mechanism and it strives to achieve balance in life. It is however possible for this drive to go into overdrive where to be entertained has a much greater priority than to be productive. It is at this point that society employs social pressure to change the behaviour that results.

In order to counter this natural inclination that humans have, we need to understand what human beings find engaging. The following are some observations that deal with the first of a number of essentials.

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Focus :  "For the learner, the engagement must be on a personal level!"  

Our present status as a learner possessing knowledge and skill sets is a deeply personal element of our being. Based upon its present state, we are judged by others and more importantly, we measure ourselves against our own personal goals.

This is an important understanding that all Instructional Designers, Corporate Trainers, Instructors, CEOs and COO's should fully grasp as we go about designing irresistibly engaging learning experiences. When we think about the needs of the learner, it is not just on one level and we make a fatal mistake if our learning experiences treat learners as machines who need to only point and click on a piece of technology.

For the learner, a number of questions need answering if we expect solid engagement by the individual or individuals:

• Since this is personal, is this learning experience relevant to me as a person, employee or student? What is the "personal ROI" that I can expect by engaging in this?

• Will my engagement in these learning experiences contribute to the solution to real world problems relating to my role in a way that respects my contributions or are they simply mechanically contrived mind games that allow administration to check off one more box on a sheet of boxes?

• Will my engagement in these learning experiences strengthen and build new personal connections to networks in which I can collaborate and grow in?

• Will my engagement enhance my learning and will my organization mentor and encourage my learning growth in a positive, personal way instead of in an organizational mass action manner?

• Am I personally invested in the mission of this organization? Does its vision match my personal vision for growth?

 
Engagement besides being very personal is also dependent upon the design and method of delivery. For the learner, the design thinking that goes into irresistibly engaging learning experiences is the "ground zero for engagement". This requires leadership that has passion and vision as drivers.

Next....The Nature of Irresistible Engaging Learning Experiences---Ground Zero!

 

Global E-learning: The State of E-Learning in Australia and New Zealand

I have had the pleasure and privilege of reading about the great things that instructors, instructional designers and corporate trainers are doing in the area of E-Learning in Australia and New Zealand. Their progressive thinking and innovative ideas are an inspiration to all who are committed to making E-Learning a viable path for life-long learning for all learners.

Credit: www.nzedge.com

I also know that as nations they are highly competitive, usually against each other, but also have a great sense of humour. I still remember a number of years ago when a group from New Zealand tried to put Australia up for sale on E-Bay.

Credit: www.auspak.edu.pk

But this isn't about me telling you about their contributions to E-Learning. It is about a hope that I have that they will share their stories in the same pattern as the previous appeals.

The Appeal for Thoughtful Collaboration and Exchange of Ideas

 

The purpose of this appeal is to open conversations that will allow all of us to truly understand the "mosaic of global E-Learning". I would like to entertain these conversations in the professional forums on E-Learning in LinkedIn.com but you can also comment in the blog. I will transfer any comments into the appropriate forums. The conversations should elaborate on three main questions:

1. What is the state of E-Learning in the education sector of your country?
2. What are a few successes you can highlight that you have experienced in E-Learning in your country?
3. What are a few serious challenges that you see now and in the future for E-Learning in your country?

Who Should We Hear From?

 Naturally, we would like to hear from all those who are involved in E-Learning in some way. Government officials, higher education, instructional designers, educators, corporate trainers and even students taking E-Learning.

Framing Your Responses

In order that conversations not be cumbersome, I would suggest the following:

1. Identify the country you are from
2. Identify your professional role
3. A brief response to the questions

If you are reading this and know of an Australian or New Zealand colleague who might be interested in contributing to this discussion, then please share this via Facebook, Twitter or any other social media means. Conversations only work if there is more than one person involved.

Global E-Learning: The State of E-Learning in the Middle East- Part II

As was mentioned in the previous post, there are leaders in the Middle East who have a vision for the future of innovation and E-Learning that if carried out, will lead to a better quality of life for the people of the region and will open up doors of opportunity for investors.


One such leader is HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Credit: www.ebinthemag.com

In an article published by HH, titled: "Innovate or Stagnate"  His Highness was quoted as saying:

"We are building a new reality for our people, a new future for our children and a new model of development" (Feb. 5,2015)

A symbol of this new vision for the future of education is the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University  in Dubai whose mission statement states the following:

"To provide high quality programs using virtual learning environment, supporting the pursuit of lifelong learning, addressing critical activities of economic development in the Arab World, pioneering in e-learning, providing unique learners experience and growing knowledge and its dissemination through excellence in research and knowledge transfer." 

We also have quotes from the E-Learning Association of the Middle East stating:

Credit: www.titlestad@iede.org

We can also point to the potential of  MOOCS that are growing in use in the Middle East but we do need to hear from those who are working in the E-Learning area using the different variations of E-Learning . It would be a great disservice to those in other Middle Eastern countries to leave the impression that the only area involved in E-Learning is UAE. This leads me to my appeal.

The Appeal for Thoughtful Collaboration and Exchange of Ideas

The purpose of this appeal is to open conversations that will allow all of us to truly understand the "mosaic of global E-Learning". I would like to entertain these conversations in the professional forums on E-Learning in LinkedIn.com. The conversations should elaborate on three main questions:

1. What is the state of E-Learning in the education sector of your country?
2. What are a few successes you can highlight that you have experienced in E-Learning in your country?
3. What are a few serious challenges that you see now and in the future for E-Learning in your country?

Who Should We Hear From?

 Naturally, we would like to hear from all those who are involved in E-Learning in some way. Government officials, higher education, instructional designers, educators, corporate trainers and even students taking E-Learning.

Framing Your Responses

In order that conversations not be cumbersome, I would suggest the following:

1. Identify the country you are from
2. Identify your professional role
3. A brief response to the questions

Credit: www.teleportmyjob.com

Where Do We Start? 

These posts will be shared to the LinkedIn forums on E-Learning and innovation, specifically E-Learning Industry and Learnnovators where I hope that we can stimulate some helpful conversations on the state of E-Learning in a global context. Any comments you post to the blog, I can transfer to the LinkedIn forums which also include the Education in the Middle East forum. For example this came from Waleed in Jan 4, 2015:

"E-learning is getting tremendous success in the region of United Arab Emirates because of the outclass technological facilities are provided to its residents and there a lot of locals as well expatriates already enrolled in online education in UAE because of its convenient learning."

This is an invitation to share your story.................

Global E-Learning: The State of E-Learning in the Middle East--Part I

 The Middle East has a long heritage of learning and intellectual achievement that has contributed greatly to the knowledge that we now have in many disciplines. The disciplines are not just the scientific disciplines but also include magnificent accomplishments in the literary arts as well as architecture. I have had the privilege of reading and marveling at the great wisdom and beauty of the accomplishments of the people of the Middle East and I have come to realize and believe that the power of education can re-shape the future and provide for the children of this generation and the ones that follow.

Credit: www.professionsforpeace.com

In order to to completely understand E-Learning in the Middle East and to make our appeal to leaders there to share their knowledge concerning the state of E-Learning in the Middle East, we have to be clear on which countries we are seeking information from. For our purposes, the following map indicates who we are talking about:

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The Heritage: The Islamic Golden Age (750 - 950 AD)

The history of the Middle East is one that has been noted for excellent advances in the pursuit of knowledge and education. This is the heritage of every child living in the Middle East today but it is one that does not often share the world spotlight with the world's thirst for continuing accounts of turmoil and tribalism. In order that hope may shine in the hearts of children in the Middle East, a renewed emphasis, a new education that not only places the spotlight on the magnificent accomplishments in the scientific disciplines and the arts of the Middle East's past but also one in which they can be the new architects of  a future of hope is needed now.

It is not my intention to spend endless pages detailing the great accomplishments of this particular age but I will highlight some of these accomplishments in order to pose a provocative question at the end.

Credit: www.teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu

The Islamic Golden Age was a period in Islam's history in which the Middle East experienced a scientific, economic and cultural blossoming that was not only of great benefit to the Middle East but also to the remainder of the known Mediterranean world at the time.

Scientific Method: Ibn Al-Haytham (Alhazen) was noted in history with regards to his approach to experimentation.

Medicine: The physician, Rhazes, was an early supporter of experimental medicine. He introduced the idea of using a control group as a comparison group with the experimental group within an experimental study so that more accurate conclusions and predictions could be made.

Mathematics: Muhammed ibn Musa al-khwarizmi played a significant role in the development of Algebra, Algorithms and Hindu-Arabic numerals.

Astronomy: In about 964 AD, Persian Astronomer, Abd al-Rahma al-Sufi, writing in his Book of Fixed Stars described a "nebulous spot" in the Andromeda constellation which was the first known reference to the Andromeda galaxy.

Credit: www.muslimheritage.com

Education: In education, the world's oldest degree granting university was the University of Al Karaovine founded in 859 AD. We also need to mention the famous Library of Alexandria and the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

The greatest threat to the Islamic Golden Age came from the Mongol invasion. In 1258 AD, Hulagu Khan destroyed Baghdad and the House of Wisdom. With the destruction of libraries and schools of thought came the "smothering" of  "ijtihad" (independent reasoning) in the 12th century in favour of institutionalized thinking. Science and rationalism were discouraged and Greek thought was condemned. This leads us to an important question about the future of E-Learning and education in general in the Middle East:

 " Is a new Islamic Golden Age possible in the 21st century Middle East? Is E-Learning one potential path to this new horizon?

 Re-Awakening a Glorious Heritage: A New Phoenix Rising?

Credit: www. continuing education.construction.com

 

We recognize that in regards to E-Learning, there are leaders in the Middle East who are moving forward with great courage and boldness with the hope of providing a quality of life that will lead to a prosperous life for all people in the countries of the Middle East. What is required is a vision for education that will re-awaken a glorious heritage that children will embrace as life and hope for the future instead of a seemingly endless cycle of despair.

Next.... The new visionaries of education in the Middle East and the appeal to share their thoughts as well as thoughts by other identified contributors...

 

Global E-Learning- The State of E-Learning in the World--Opening Ambitious Conversations

At some point in your professional life you experience what we would call an "Eureka!!" moment. Such moments are rare in our lives and even rarer in our professional lives which too often follow predictable patterns. In reading forum postings in the LinkedIn network, I may have come to such a moment and it occurred to me as a question:

" When it comes to E-Learning, are we missing the forest because of the trees?"

Your first reaction to this question might be "what does that mean?" or simply "I don't get it!" Perhaps that is precisely the problem that "we don't get it!" We spend a great deal of time focused on technology, tools and apps without stopping and stepping back and taking a look to see if there is a greater picture we should be paying attention to.

Many of us who work in different capacities in E-Learning, whether in the areas of higher education, government ministries, instructional design  or corporate training recognize and appreciate contributions made by professionals from many countries around the world in E-Learning. We are able to sample the opinions and expertise of these professionals through social media such as Twitter, Facebook and the LinkedIn forums in areas of E-Learning. However, there is a daunting question we need to ask which is:

"Do we have a complete picture of the state of E-Learning in the various countries of the world or do we merely have a mosaic with pieces missing?

Credit: E-Learning Industry

 In order for E-Learning to truly evolve to what it can be within a global context, we need a complete picture of the state of E-learning in the world of the 21st century.

Why Is This Necessary?

If one of our goals in educating and training learners is to empower them to be creators of new knowledge and skillsets, to be innovators for improving the quality of life of global citizens, we need to know the challenges that each of us face in education, technology and innovation.

Learners are to become skilled problem solvers who will have to confront complex real world issues. Our focus in equipping them with the necessary skillsets is the realization that:

"Many of the problems faced in the connected world of today are no longer just localized distant problems. With the advance of technology and instantaneous communication to the far reaches of the globe, the problems are more global in nature with the ability to impact everyone who shares the planet."

A Proposal That Needs to Go Viral!

In this blog (www.darkzoneeducation.blogspot.com) for the next few postings I would like to send out an appeal to different regions of the world for their input on the state of E-Learning in their area. The purpose of this appeal is to open conversations that will allow all of us to truly understand the "mosaic of global E-Learning". I would like to entertain these conversations in the professional forums on E-Learning in LinkedIn.com. The conversations should elaborate on three main questions:

1. What is the state of E-Learning in the education sector of your country?
2. What are a few successes you can highlight that you have experienced in E-Learning in your country?
3. What are a few serious challenges that you see now and in the future for E-Learning in your country?

Who Should We Hear From?

 Naturally, we would like to hear from all those who are involved in E-Learning in some way. Government officials, higher education, instructional designers, educators, corporate trainers and even students taking E-Learning.

Framing Your Responses

In order that conversations not be cumbersome, I would suggest the following:

1. Identify the country you are from
2. Identify your professional role
3. A brief response to the questions

The questions are conversation starters so that we can get a good understanding of the state of E-Learning in a particular region.

 

Where Do We Start? 

 

These posts will be shared to the LinkedIn forums on E-Learning and innovation, specifically E-Learning Industry and Learnnovators where I hope that we can stimulate some helpful conversations on the state of E-Learning in a global context. I will choose a different region of countries each week but that does not mean that previous conversations need to cease.

 

 

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Credit: www.europeandestinations.com

This Week--- European countries and Russian Federation---You are up this week! Talk to us!!

If you are reading this post, share it through social media so that we can get as many people involved in these conversations as possible. The mosaic is incomplete until you contribute and collaborate.

 

E-Learning: "When An Irresistible Force Meets An Immovable Object--Part II--Business

One of the areas that education and business have in common is in the established resistance to change. Change in business is not new. Businesses have been implementing change ever since the first merchants recognized human needs and made efforts to meet needs. The one difference between then and now is the rate of change as it applies to the business cycle and the extension from local markets to global markets in a very short time span. The problem is that the rate of change as the result of the advancement of technology has increased dramatically and businesses have not invested enough in change management strategies to deal proactively with the changing digital economy. A useful analogy might be to compare traditional business organizations to the tortoise. Like a tortoise, it can handle incremental changes but when threatened by numerous changes impacting the business on multiple fronts it withdraws into its shell.

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Change Management, Innovation and Learning

Change management is often defined within the context of individual organizations but simply put, as defined by Prosci,  it is:

Credit: www,change-management-coach.com

Managing change in the digital age means dealing with the forces of technology and innovation outside the walls of a business organization in a controlled proactive fashion. This means developing a plan based on an accepted model such as the one illustrated below:

Credit: www.hiddenresources.co.uk

Change management needs to happen at two levels: the organizational level and the individual level but both levels depend upon the importance of creating a vision as illustrated by Kotter's model shown above. This is the point where the process can seriously bog down and is a reason that change management fails on an organizational level.

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In the 8 Common Errors in Organizational Change Efforts(Leading Change, John P. Kotter), it should be pointed out that steps 3, 4, 5 highlight how the failure of establishing a vision that truly reflects the reality of the 21st century digital economy paralyzes a business organization to the point that it becomes irrelevant as a force within its own sector.

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The often asked question by organizations being impacted by change is:

"If innovation is the key to our prosperity and survival as a business organization, what can we do to make it work for us?"

Steve Blank in an article titled: "Lean Innovation Management-Making Corporate Innovation Work" (June 26,2015) describes three specific horizons of innovation which could be summarized as:

• Horizon 1 activities support existing business models (company's core business)
• Horizon 2 is focused on extending existing businesses with partially known business models (represent new opportunities via business model innovation)
• Horizon 3 represents new or disruptive business models designed to develop collaborative  networks outside the business as well as entirely new markets

The description above is simplistic on my part but in order to get an understanding of the proactive process, the article is quite informative.

So, what does any of this have to do with learning within a business organization?

Change management within an organization also has to happen on an individual level, meaning not just the CEO and COO but also in the middle and with those who deal with the employees everyday. Without the engagement of employees, change management fails. Learning within the organization is vital to keep it healthy and moving forward but you need to be fully aware of what is happening in education and teaching in order to understand how it will impact your business through the recruitment of new employees. A recent report titled: "NMC Horizon Report -2015 K-12 Edition" reveals what you should expect in the future learning profiles of your employees.The vision of E-Learning will reform E-Commerce as the new learned skillsets now come into play.

Business institutional inertia needs to be overcome so that the opportunities of the future are no longer locked doors!

Credit: www.futureofcio.blogspot.com

Next....Exploring Interactivity in E-Learning